Effects of Global Changes on Above- and Belowground Biodiversity in Terrestrial Ecosystems: Implications for Ecosystem Functioning

bove-and belowground organisms are critical for the biogeochemical cycles that sustain the Earth, but there is limited knowledge on the extent to which the biota below ground and the functions they perform are dependent on the biota above ground, and vice versa.Hooper et al. (2000) provide a synthesis of the patterns and mechanisms linking above-and belowground biodiversity.The close relationship between vegetation change and soil carbon (C) dynamics (Jobbgy and Jackson 2000) suggests that any disruption of the coupling between plants and soil organisms as a result of global change may have deleterious consequences for functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.However, most of the scientific evidence supporting this hypothesis comes from correlative approaches.The complexity of the numerous interactions between various environmental